Wanted Mutants

Chapter 10

"However... she's right. I’m no fighter like her. I can’t do anything but grow plants…” Kari watched as Clovers covered her face as a stream of tears began to roll down her cheeks. “I wish I had abilities like you, but I don’t I’m just…just…” she began to cry, and all Kari could do was sit and show empathy. Kari scooted closer, and she draped her arm around Clover. They both sat like that for a few minutes.

“Clover, to be honest, I don’t want my powers, I kind of wish I never had them.” Clover looked up with watery eyes, “my life was better without them. I was the daughter of two wealthy company owners. I would have received both when my parents passed it down to me.” Kari let go of Clover, and she stood up, “But my life wouldn’t nearly be as cool as it is now.” Clover nodded and she dried her tears,

“Well, let's go before we’re late.” Clover sprang to her feet and grabbed Kari’s hand and they both ran out of the room and down the hall toward the training room.

They ran around the trainee building until they found the room where all the new recruits were. Kari and Clover made their way in when, Clover ran over to a guy standing alone off to himself.

“Hey Blake, why are you standing over here alone?” he looked at her, and he scratched his head,

“I don’t know, just waiting.” Clover smiled and she cleared her throat,

“Blake, this is my friend Kari Summer. She’s from Concordia. Kari, this is my friend Blake Caswell. He and I are both from the trinity city. He’s from Paladina, I’m from Celi.” Kari thought for a moment, then she remembered the trinity city is actually three small district cities that come together to make one big city. These cities are known for their main productions; Velocia, the city of communication, Celi, the city of factories, and Paladina, the city of agriculture.

“Nice to meet you.” He held his hand out to her and she shook it,

“Likewise…” his brown eyes locked with hers, “If you don’t mind me asking what your ability is?” he looked at the ground and Clover punched his arm,

“Don’t be rude, Blake.” He ran his fingers through his dark blond hair, and he sighed,

“It’s kind of hard to explain… and it’s hard to say without people taking it the wrong way.” Kari tilled her head when she felt someone tap her shoulder,

“Hey Miss Kari, you’re looking beautiful today.” She turned to see Ragnarök standing behind her. Before she could say anything, he softly kissed her hand and her heart began to race. He looked up at her, and she blushed, “Why the confused look?” He kissed her hand again,

“You don’t have to…” he chuckled,

“But I want to.” His chuckle was sweet and genuine and made her heart ache, and her chest tighten, “For now I must leave you.” He let go of her hand and turned to leave. But before he left, he glanced back at her, and whispered loud enough for her to hear. “Your beauty is intoxicating, you are indeed a rare person.” He walked away, and as he did Kari blushed. it took a few moments for her to snap back to reality only to find clover staring,

“Who was that?!” Kari instinctively began to play with her hair,

“Well, he’s the leader of team Alpha…” before she could explain anything else, a hush fell over the room and Ragnarök stood on a platform. She felt her heart flutter,

“Alright, everyone settle down. My name is Ragnarök, and I’m leader of team Alpha. An exploration and retrieval team. It’s my job to sort you all out for training.” He pulled out a data pad, and he typed something, then looked at all of them. “Alright, I’m going to sort you all by powers and ability. Elemental abilities step to the left side of the room. Psychic abilities on the right side of the room. Physical abilities middle. And those of you who don't quite know how to define your gift behind the physical traits.” as everyone started shifting, Kari moved to where she was directed to go. When everyone was finished, Ragnarök spoke up, “Alright, now this is an important question. Who wants to work in the districts.” Over half of the recruits raised their hands, “OK, Barren will escort you all to that training room.” Kari watched as Clover left with that group. By the time that was over, only ten people remained standing in the room, “Well all of you... Welcome to Exploration team training.” He looked right at her and winked, and she felt her face get hot. "First, let me describe the job. It's up to us to find and help other mutants find the safety of our compound. We are also tasked with finding a new settlement. Should this one be discovered by the authorities, we will flee to a new settlement. We are also this compounds defense. There are six active teams. Team Superior, Team Alpha, Team Delta, Team Beta, Team Theta, and Team Omega. You will all undergo training to help you control your abilities. We are going to teach you all what we've learned from the old world." his gaze shifts to the doorway, “For now the team leaders will come and choose two of you, but I will choose now. You in the corner and you with the white hair and blue eyes.” he walked over to Kari and winked. He then gestured to Blake to come along, as he headed for the door. Kari followed him and Blake behind her, when a gentleman walked in. He was tall and thin, his hair shaggy and snow-white, his eyes golden brown. He was dressed casually as he strolled into the room. His brow furrowed as he looked at Ragnarök.

“What the hell, Ragnarök? Have you already picked?” he nodded, and he gestured for his two recruits to follow. “That’s cheating!” he just continued to walk as the other team leader glared,

"Maybe next time you lead the trainee talk." Kari followed behind Ragnarök along with Blake as they followed him. After a few minutes, he stopped and turned to look at them,

“Alright, so what’s your name and power?” He pointed at Blake, and he stood shocked, “Well?"

“Oh um, my name is Blake and I don’t really know how to describe my abilities.” Ragnarök looked at him and he squinted,

“Did Vixen’s team rescue you from the Trinity Cities?” Blake nodded and Ragnarök looked at him with disbelief, “So I picked the ghost and the giant to come train on my team…” he paused and for a moment his hair seemed to glow a little, “This is going to be epic my team is going to crush all the others.” He seemed to be happy with himself while Kari and Blake stood watching him. “Alright let's go to Team Alpha’s building and get you guys adjusted.” He walked like he was happy with himself,

“Um, how exactly do you train new recruits?” Ragnarök turned and he smiled,

“We will get into that in all good time. I will need to see the extent of what you guys can do. So, for now, we are going to my team's training building. We’ll whip you both into shape, so let’s go.” They walked through the maze of halls and headed out a door toward another building. As they crossed the courtyard, Kari thought to herself. 'Why did he put me on his team? As they walked into the building, Ragnarök stopped, and he turned to them, “Alright you two time for you all to meet the other members.” They walked into a big great room filled with furniture and screens. On the farthest wall was a T.V. and a few feet in front of it was a long couch. Off on the right side of the room was a large kitchen and on the left side of the room was a large table with a bunch of chairs surrounding it. Ragnarök walked over to something on the wall, and he pressed a button, “Team come to the main room please.” There were several replies, each sounding different. A few moments passed, and two guys walked into the room, followed by two girls. “Alright, team introduce yourselves.”